Siloam Springs Rodeo

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Siloam Springs
By Graham Thomas
Staff Writer
gthomas@nwadg.com
Jeff Lee learned plenty of
lessons about rodeo at a young
age growing up in Yell County.
The son of parents who were
heavily involved in the sport
— his dad was a saddle bronc
rider and his mom a barrel racer
— Lee learned what a rodeo
should look like, what it
should sound like, what it
should feel like and how
it should be performed.
"The most important
part," he said, "was we
need to honor people's
money. Because,
especially nowadays,
there's so many things
people can go do. They
can go sit in the air
conditioning. They can sit
(and play) on their phone
in the living room and be
entertained.
"When they come out
here (to the rodeo) and pay
money, there should be an
entertainment aspect where
those people leave here and say
'I'll come back.'"
Rodeo is something Lee
takes very seriously, and it's
turned into his career.
Lee, a Siloam Springs
resident, is a professional rodeo
announcer who travels across
the country performing at
rodeos big and small.
But Lee won't have to travel
very far for the next few weeks
as he's set to announce the
60th annual Siloam Springs
Rodeo this week and then will
do the Rodeo of the Ozarks in
Springdale later this month.
It's his fifth year doing his
hometown rodeo and his fourth
in Springdale.
For a guy that's traveled as
far away as Alaska to announce
a rodeo, being able to stay
home is a nice change of pace.
"Routinely I'm 10 to 12 hours
from home when I perform,"
Lee said. "To be able to come
home for a couple of weeks out
of that time period is nice."
Lee has been involved in
rodeo all his life, but the last
10 years have seen him dive
headfirst into the announcing
profession after several years of
producing rodeos.
"I found that I could do
announcing really well," he
said.
Lee said that he works
anywhere between 35 to 40
rodeo events a year and stays
pretty busy.
After graduating from
Arkansas Tech with a degree
in agriculture business, Lee
moved to Siloam Springs in 2006
to take a job with Simmons
Foods in what he said was
"probably one of the best-worst
experiences of my life."
"Simmons is a great
company to work for," he said,
"but I was working third shift,
nobody spoke my language and
there were 130 people working
for me and another guy. I
learned how to deal with people
really quick."
Lee worked for Simmons
for only a couple of years, but
he loved the area so much he
decided to make it his home. He
started producing rodeos and
Professional Bull Rider
events.
He also landed a job
at Superior in Siloam
Springs doing fleet
sales, which gave him
the flexibility he needed
to pursue announcing
rodeo full time.
When longtime
Siloam Springs Rodeo
announcer Doug
Williams retired a few
years ago, the Siloam
Springs Riding Club
struggled to find a replacement
before realizing that they had a
jewel in Lee right in their own
backyard.
"Doug Williams was our
announcer for a long, long time
and he retired," said Riding
Club member Karen Davis. "We
had a couple of guys that just
weren't fitting right. Then we
found Jeff. He was right here,
actually. And it worked out
really well for him and for us.
He's been a big help to us.
"He's the voice of our rodeo
now."
Lee's perspective was that
in the entertainment industry,
it's harder to be considered
professional in your home town
'The voice of our rodeo'
Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader
Siloam Springs Rodeo announcer Jeff Lee and his horse and co-star Dusty will be in
action this week at the 60th annual Siloam Springs Rodeo.
What are you doing Thursday night?
Got plans on Friday night?
Need something fun to do on Saturday?
The 60th annual Siloam Springs Rodeo
can help in all three of those areas.
If you like good, clean, wholesome
family entertainment, well then this is the
event for you. You will have fun. Your kids
will have fun, and even the grandkids (if
you have them) will have fun.
I'm not a rodeo guy. It's not something
I grew up or was raised with, but even I
look forward to the rodeo coming back to
town for its three-night performance.
I remember the first Siloam Springs
Rodeo I covered back in the summer of
2010. I wasn't thrilled about going out
there. I'm a baseball, football, basketball
kind of guy, and I trudged out there not
knowing what to expect to see at this
event.
I had a ball.
Sure it was hot, it was sticky, and I
needed a little bug spray, but I genuinely
had a great time and have most every
year since, depending on whether or not a
vacation was scheduled that week.
You will be entertained and that's the
goal of the Siloam Springs Riding Club,
which hosts the event every year.
Visiting with public address announcer
Jeff Lee this past week, I'm more
convinced than ever that our local riding
club does a great job in preparing for this
event.
While Jeff and I were talking in his
truck, several members of the riding club
were busy fixing up the Rodeo Grounds
arena in anticipation of this week's
events.
OK, so here are some highlights to look
forward to this week.
Thursday night is Kids Night, where
all kids 12-and-under get in free with a
paying adult.
On Friday, a Special Kids Rodeo will be
held from 10 a.m. to noon for children and
adults with special needs. As a parent of
a special needs child, I can't say enough
about what a big deal it is for these kids
to get this experience.
On Saturday is the annual parade,
starting at 4 p.m. at the Middle School and
going into downtown Siloam Springs. The
Rodeo Pageant will be Saturday night as
well.
All three nights, the Rodeo of the
Ozarks Rounders will be performing as
well.
Advance tickets are still on sale today,
June 13, for $8 at the following locations:
Powell Feed, Generations Bank, Grand
Savings Bank, Sassafras and Pioneer Pizza
in Gentry.
Ticket prices go up to $10 at the gate
on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
So get your boots on, get your hat and
come on out and enjoy a wonderful event
that our community is lucky to have. You'll
be glad you did.
— Graham Thomas is the managing editor for the Herald-
Leader. He can be reached at gthomas@nwadg.com.
The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Rodeo a
great time
for everybody
Graham
Thomas
Timeout
60TH annuaL
SiLoam SpRinGS RoDeo
Thursday-Saturday
Siloam Springs Rodeo Grounds
H Key times, all nights H
7:30 p.m. — Mutton bustin'
7:45 p.m. —Kiddie Grand Entry
followed by Grand Entry
H Wednesday, June 13 H
8 p.m. — Rodeo Street Dance,
American Legion
Community Building
H Friday, June 15 H
10 a.m. — Special Kids Rodeo
H Saturday, June 16 H
4 p.m. — Rodeo Parade, starts at
Siloam Springs Middle School
See lee on Back Page
"We feel really fortunate
to have him here. He
keeps the crowd in it.
He's a good asset to the
club and our rodeo."
~ Riding Club member
Karen Davis